Spain, Norway and Ireland recognized a Palestinian state Tuesday, joining more than 140 other nations in a step sharply criticized by Israel.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide called on the international community to work toward a two-state solution, while praising the Palestinian Authority for working on reforms and faulting the Israeli government for showing “no signs of engaging constructively.”
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Tuesday that recognizing a Palestinian state is aimed at “contributing to achieving peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.”
“It is the only way to realize the solution that we all recognize as the only possible one to achieve a future of peace, that of a Palestinian state that coexists alongside the state of Israel in peace and security,” Sánchez said.
Spain, Norway and Ireland first announced their intention to recognize a Palestinian state last week.
Israel responded last week by calling the move a gift to Hamas and recalled its ambassadors from all three countries in protest. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz added Tuesday that Spain’s government was “being complicit in inciting genocide against Jews and war crimes.”
Sánchez said Tuesday the decision to recognize a Palestinian state “reflects our absolute rejection of Hamas, a terrorist organization who is against the two-state solution.”
He further said the move is “not against anyone, least of all Israel.”
Sánchez said Spain’s position supports 1967 borders, unless changes are agreed to by Israel and the Palestinians, and a viable Palestinian state that includes the West Bank and Gaza connected by a corridor and East Jerusalem as a capital.
"We had wanted to recognize Palestine at the end of a peace process, however we have made this move alongside Spain and Norway to keep the miracle of peace alive," Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said in a statement.
The Palestinian flag was raised outside Dublin’s Leinster House, where the Irish parliament meets.
None of the prominent Western powers and more than two-thirds of the United Nations do not recognize a Palestinian state.
Harris said Tuesday that the European Union should consider economic sanctions on Israel. "Europe could be doing a hell of a lot more" to bring about a cease-fire, he said.
The decision comes nearly seven months after Hamas launched a terror attack on Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages, prompting Israel’s offensive.
More than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.
